My early years were full of meeting lifelong friends, learning from the best and always having fun. I remember a lot of my early schooling, even before preschool. Throughout those years I had some amazing and very significant teachers as well as caregivers that influenced what kind of person I turned out to be.
Both of my parents worked full time, so when I was very little, basically since I was born, I went to daycare. The daycare was not your typical one. A woman named Caroline, a native of Italy, looked after my sister and I and a few other children in her home. My mom would drop us off before she went to school and we would stay with her all day until my mother would pick us up after work. Obviously, I don’t remember all the years I was there because I was too little, but I do remember some of the later years. I recall learning to dance the “Macarena” with Caroline and my friends, eating the best home cooked pasta in the world, and even dressing up for Halloween. But most of all, I remember hating naptime. Caroline would make us nap for about an hour and I could never fall asleep. I would do anything to avoid taking a nap. She would always wear exercise pants that you could hear when she walked and that’s how I’d know to pretend to be asleep. Also, being the nosy person that I am, I tried to listen to her phone conversations. She would always be speaking Italian on the phone and I always wanted to know what she was saying. Funny enough, that is why I decided to take Italian in middle school and high school, and now I am pursuing a minor in it. Caroline taught me a lot of things that traditional teachers could never teach. I learned the meaning of friendship and family. My curiosity for learning (especially languages) was also developed. In fact, I am still in contact with Caroline and go to her annual holiday party, and day care graduation where I meet the new daycare kids each year. I appreciate having her as an influence and she is someone I admire.
As I got older and went to school, I loved school and loved all my teachers. But one teacher still stands out as my favorite; my third grade teacher, Ms. Simpson. Third grade was a big year because it was the first year out of the school we had all been attending for our whole lives. We had more freedom and we thought we were so cool. My teacher had curly red hair just like me and people even asked if she was my mom. Therefore, we established a close bond immediately. She called me the name “Rusty” because of my hair color. I remember one specific moment when she helped me more than any other teachers had. We were learning how to write in script. I was struggling and getting very frustrated and I asked her for help. She would not do it for me like I wanted her to, she only encouraged me and told me to “have my guts.” That whole year she tried to get rid of my low self-confidence. I have never had a teacher recognize my strengths and weaknesses, or give me special attention as much as Ms. Simpson did. To this day, my family still tells me to “have my guts” when I am nervous about something and not feeling confident. She taught me to always be confident. She put the idea in my head to stop worrying and just work to do what I want. When I am a teacher, I hope to be as much a positive influence on my students as she was to me.
I am so grateful for the amazing teachers, caregivers and schooling that I received. My early experiences are so crucial to any child's upbringing and thanks to these amazing experiences and role models, I will always remember my early years. These people all influenced the person I am today and their significance on my life cannot be underestimated.
Both of my parents worked full time, so when I was very little, basically since I was born, I went to daycare. The daycare was not your typical one. A woman named Caroline, a native of Italy, looked after my sister and I and a few other children in her home. My mom would drop us off before she went to school and we would stay with her all day until my mother would pick us up after work. Obviously, I don’t remember all the years I was there because I was too little, but I do remember some of the later years. I recall learning to dance the “Macarena” with Caroline and my friends, eating the best home cooked pasta in the world, and even dressing up for Halloween. But most of all, I remember hating naptime. Caroline would make us nap for about an hour and I could never fall asleep. I would do anything to avoid taking a nap. She would always wear exercise pants that you could hear when she walked and that’s how I’d know to pretend to be asleep. Also, being the nosy person that I am, I tried to listen to her phone conversations. She would always be speaking Italian on the phone and I always wanted to know what she was saying. Funny enough, that is why I decided to take Italian in middle school and high school, and now I am pursuing a minor in it.
Caroline taught me a lot of things that traditional teachers could never teach. I learned the meaning of friendship and family. My curiosity for learning (especially languages) was also developed. In fact, I am still in contact with Caroline and go to her annual holiday party, and day care graduation where I meet the new daycare kids each year. I appreciate having her as an influence and she is someone I admire.
As I got older and went to school, I loved school and loved all my teachers. But one teacher still stands out as my favorite; my third grade teacher, Ms. Simpson. Third grade was a big year because it was the first year out of the school we had all been attending for our whole lives. We had more freedom and we thought we were so cool. My teacher had curly red hair just like me and people even asked if she was my mom. Therefore, we established a close bond immediately. She called me the name “Rusty” because of my hair color. I remember one specific moment when she helped me more than any other teachers had. We were learning how to write in script. I was struggling and getting very frustrated and I asked her for help. She would not do it for me like I wanted her to, she only encouraged me and told me to “have my guts.” That whole year she tried to get rid of my low self-confidence. I have never had a teacher recognize my strengths and weaknesses, or give me special attention as much as Ms. Simpson did. To this day, my family still tells me to “have my guts” when I am nervous about something and not feeling confident. She taught me to always be confident. She put the idea in my head to stop worrying and just work to do what I want. When I am a teacher, I hope to be as much a positive influence on my students as she was to me.
I am so grateful for the amazing teachers, caregivers and schooling that I received. My early experiences are so crucial to any child's upbringing and thanks to these amazing experiences and role models, I will always remember my early years. These people all influenced the person I am today and their significance on my life cannot be underestimated.